Open Up And Let ‘Em In
March 30, 2005
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Posted by Aubrey Turner
I’ve been contemplating putting in a dog door so I don’t have to serve as doggie-doorman all the time. Not to mention being able to leave home for extended periods without having to worry about her having an accident.
I’ve found an automatic door that uses an infrared transmitter on the dog’s collar to unlock the door. It’s not cheap, but it alleviates a couple of concerns I had about security. At the same time, it should prevent entry by undesirable animals such as the big possum that frequents my back yard.
The only thing holding me back is that I can see my dog running in and out while it’s raining, getting wet and muddy, and tracking dirt and mud all over the house. That, and I keep having this vision that one day I’ll wake up to crunching noises next to me in bed and she’ll be happily chewing on a dead bird (or something equally disgusting) right next to me…
Categories: It's A Dog's Life
As long as you figure it will rain, you just take the collar tag off, same thing at night. The rest of the time, well, get ready for the occassional dead animal brought proudly in to share with you.
Heh. You can have a nice, clean, mud- and dirt-free house. Or you can have a dog. Dogs are better.
Outlaw3,
The door has a switch that lets you deactivate the auto-opener and lock it.
Scott,
I’ve kind of given up on keeping the mud and dirt out. I’m even considering replacing the carpet in the living room with laminate (or perhaps tile) since she seems to enjoy running in and dancing around after playing in the mud (thereby grinding the dirt deep into the carpet).
I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve had to run the carpet “steamer” and how many pounds of dirt it’s sucked up by now.
We’ve had catflaps for about three years. No wild animals have come in on their own, but the cats have brough in birds, rabbits, mice, lizards, and squirrels. Some living, some dead. Still beats letting cats in and out and cleaning up a litterbox.